bhartuḥ Å›uÅ›rÅ«á¹£aṇaá¹ strīṇÄá¹
paro dharmo hy amÄyayÄ
tad-bandhÅ«nÄá¹ ca kalyÄṇaḥ
prajÄnÄá¹ cÄnupoá¹£aṇam
bhartuḥ - of one's husband; Å›uÅ›rÅ«á¹£aṇam - faithful service; strīṇÄm - for women; paraḥ - the highest; dharmaḥ - religious duty; hi - indeed; amÄyayÄ - without duplicity; tat-bandhÅ«nÄm - to the relatives of their husbands; ca - and; kalyÄṇaḥ - doing good; prajÄnÄm - of their offspring; ca - and; anupoá¹£aṇam - the care.
The highest religious duty for a woman is to sincerely serve her husband, behave well toward her husband’s family and take good care of her children.
ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ« astutely points out here that the gopÄ«s’ real, eternal husband is Lord Kṛṣṇa, not their so-called husbands at home, who falsely considered the gopÄ«s their property. Thus a strict interpretation of the word amÄyayÄ, “without illusion,†reveals that the supreme religious duty for the gopÄ«s is to serve ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, their real lover.
